minumum wage is NOT high enough!

im just angry that the mayors and councils of cities do not see this! the minumum wage in my city is 7.50 an hour. its very close to that across the rest of canada.

even if they let you work 10 hours a day for 4 days to get your 40 hours... before tax you would make 600 a paycheque. now if you want to drive a car then youll have to fork over around 400 from that for the insurance.

if you want a house dont bother because an average monthly payment for a house in my city is over 1000.00 even if the minumum wage was 8.00 or 9.00 or even 10.00 people could still not afford to live in this city.

the minumum wage has to be atleast 15.00 an hour everywhere if the city wants to reduce homless and poverty. at 15.00 an hour after 80 hours you will make 1200.00, thats enough to drive and atleast rent an appartment.

but if they keep the wage soooo low, then some people will get fired, people will give up, end up on the streets, and the whole city will be paying for them in the end.

what do you think about this... am i right or what?

LOL, I do not now, and will not ever, feel sorry for you!!

When I was 14 years old (and when you could work that young) I earned minimum wage.....$3.35 an hour!!!

So I laugh when I hear about people complaining about it today, $7.50 was a dream for me back then. Heck, $7.5 was a dream for me at 17 years old.

And:

even if they let you work 10 hours a day for 4 days to get your 40 hours... before tax you would make 600 a paycheque. now if you want to drive a car then youll have to fork over around 400 from that for the insurance

40 x 7.5 = $300, NOT $600. Maybe there is a reason you are being offered minimum wage? (I tease)

I do agree what minimum wage is not enough, but let’s face it: Its never been enough. Never will be enough. It’s just a standard; it needs to start someplace you know. But to be brutally honest: If the only prospects you have are offering the minimum, look in the mirror and see what you can do to become more marketable. That’s the only way it’s going to change.

I make a fair salary, and I still need to work an extra job to pay the bills. Not to mention a few dollars here and there from my new T-Shirt business. Its tough.

In the end pay is relative, id say most people get paid what they are worth. Change your worth and you change your pay, it rarely happens the other way around.

Shouldn't this be in rants?

I get paid 15 pounds a day when i work on the yard... I'd do it for free anyday.

Don't complain though - Theres millions without jobs so consider yourself lucky

Originally posted by skippytjc
40 x 7.5 = $300, NOT $600. Maybe there is a reason you are being offered minimum wage? (I tease)

youd like to think so wouldnt you! i got 600 for the whole "paycheque" as i said in my first post, which should imply 80 hours, not 40.

Even if they raise it, what is that going to do? If you get 10.00 an hr minimum wage who do you think is going to have to PAY for that? You & Me. So even if you get that raise, its going to end up going back to where you started...not having enough again. You raise the price of minimum wage,the shipper raises his shipping prices, the warehouses raise their costs, the owner of your store raises the price of shoes, I go in to buy shoes, they are 10.00 more, I ask my boss for a raise,he approves, as do 1000 other people in the Insurance company, they then raise their prices...like dominoes it will go on and on. Its just a vicious circle. The only way to stay ahead, is to get a good education and you won't have to worry about minimum anything.

Originally posted by worksoftplayhard

Originally posted by skippytjc
40 x 7.5 = $300, NOT $600. Maybe there is a reason you are being offered minimum wage? (I tease)

youd like to think so wouldnt you!

i got 600 for the whole "paycheque" as i said in my first post, which should imply 80 hours, not 40.

But thats not what you said. You said 4 days at 10 hours a day, and then you stated very plainly 40 hours. I dont know how they do math outside my country, but here 7.5 x 40 always = 300.

I agree minimum wage is not high enough. ($7.00Can where I live)

The purpose of minimum wage is to reduce exploitation, and can help ensure that everyone can afford to live.

If an individual is making minimum wage and working 40hrs a week they are getting $280 (before taxes and deductions). So let’s say about $1000.00/month take home.
The average rent in my city is about $600.00 for a one bedroom apartment. You can't afford to drive so you buy a monthly bus pass at $70.00. Phone bill maybe $40. $30 for the laundry machines. Maybe $200 for groceries.
All that is left is 60 bucks. That means no cloths, no savings, and no rainy day money.

Now imagine this individual is a single parent who has no help from family or an individual who wants to get a higher education to make more money...

You are 100% right Umbrax, but its relative.

You should fit your lifestyle is meet your budget. I ate plenty of Raman (amazingly cheap food here in America, like $.10 each) to make up for times of low income. The first thing you give up are fun stuff and new clothes. You adjust down.

I dont want to say exactly what I make today, but lets say I have less desposable income today than I have ever had in my life, yet I make 4 times the money. Its all relative.

Lose the expensive car, and yes, you may need to adjust your idea of what an expensive car is. Right now to me a $24,000 car may as well be a Ferrari. On minimum wage your idea of an expensive car better be a $2000 used car thats 10 years old. Get yourself some peanut butter and jelly and some noodles, because thats what people need to do to save money. No cable, no cell phone, no more barhopping and $70 pairs of sneakers. Read, and read free books at the library, thats it. Get a second job too, or a third if you cant increase your pay.

You know what I spend per month on entertainment for myself? $15. No joke, just $15 (one WoW account). I dont buy soda or lunch at work, no cofee in the morning, nothing. I drink water and bring my lunch. Saves me at least $50 per week.

I actually get angry at people who complain about thier pay but are unwilling to do the things they need to do make it work. How much money you spend on cofee and fast food each week? Do you even know? Dont even tell me you smoke...Thats like $50 a week by itself.

Dont worry about your pay until you can say with 100% confidence that your expenses are under absolute control and not one single penny is being misspent. Then you worry about how much.

Originally posted by skippytjc
You know what I spend per month on entertainment for myself? $15. No joke, just $15 (one WoW account). I dont buy soda or lunch at work, no cofee in the morning, nothing. I drink water and bring my lunch. Saves me at least $50 per week.

That is a really good point. I've met a lot of people in my time that were making minimum or near minimum and many of them did smoke. Honestly I don’t think some one is right to complain about being poor if they manage to buy a pack of smokes everyday ($10Can or $300/month).

But in the example I posted the person had nothing but the basics. No drinking or smoking, no Cable TV, no car of any kind. They wouldn’t even be able to save up for a $500 piece of junk or spend the hundreds to insure it.
Those numbers were based on my local economy. It may be better or worse where other people live, but here minimum wage is not enough. There are many people who are living in the situation in my last post.

The current minimum wage in Ontario is $7.75. I won't go into whether this enough or not. I would suppose that this really depends upon one's point of view -- whether you are an employer or an employee. I would, however, like to point out something interesting to keep in mind. I live in Ontario and, as many people here and throughout Canada, I drink Tim Horton's coffee. Shortly before the most recent increase to the minimum wage, an extra large Tim Horton's coffee cost $1.55. The very day that the new minimum wage increase took effect, the price of an extra large Tim Horton's coffee cost $1.59.

A four cent increase in a cup of coffee might not sound like much but consider that there are probably other minute increases in the price of goods and services right across the board. In relative terms, the previous minimum wage and the increased minimum wage are, most likely, equalized in buying power. The only advantage comes, in the short term, when one considers that rents and mortgage payments are fixed and would not jump in price. So aside from this, an increase in minimum wages becomes rather meaningless rather quickly.

Rather than argue whether a minimum wage is adequate or not, I consider that whatever a base pay might be as an incentive.....yes, an incentive......to go to school, to get an education, trade or skills training so that one is not subject to the economic vagaries inflicted upon the bottom rung of the economic totem pole.